In all cases there are resources available to communities that can support their development efforts. Some communities maintain or have access to a wealth of resources for supporting new and existing entrepreneurs. Other communities can benefit in understanding what resources are available. These same communities may also need a local champion who encourages entrepreneurial development as part of their economic development process.

Some external resources are physical in nature, such as grants, use of facilities, or infrastructure. Others are human in nature, such as technical assistance, information, and administration. Below are some common resources that communities might consider utilizing in order to strengthen their entrepreneurship infrastructure:

1. Sources of institutional/organizational support to foster new businesses:
   1. US Small Business Development Centers (business planning, development, and maintenance assistance): http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/index.html
   2. US-Small Business Administration (loans, legal/regulatory information, etc.). For more information about US-SBA, go to: http://www.sba.gov/
   3. US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program (financing, small grants, technical assistance, etc). For more information, go to: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/
   4. Private and Public Business Incubators (startup assistance, infrastructure, etc.)
   5. University Outreach Programs (small business/ag business programs through Cooperative Extension, manufacturing extension centers, campus institutes, etc.)
   6. Small Business Lending Institutions (community loan funds, community/economic development corporations, SBA, etc.)
   7. Granting Entities (USDA Rural Development, Economic Development Administration, charitable trusts, and foundations such as the Kellog Foundation, etc.)
   8. Non-profit Organizations that Assist with Business Planning and Development. (e.g. MainStreet, Service Corps of Retired Executives, design charette programs, etc.)
2. State and Municipal incentive programs for business/entrepreneurial development:
   1. Tax Increment Financing (TIF): See following factsheet for description of TIF’s: www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/documents/Tif_forWeb.pdf
   2. Commercial Enterprise Zones (to see how they work, go to factsheet developed by the Ohio Enterprise Zone program at http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/1552.html)
   3. Business Improvement Districts (See following factsheet for description of Business Improvement Districts http://www.uwex.edu/lgc/cp&d/bidpage/bid.htm)
3. Physical Infrastructures key to supporting local entrepreneurs:
   1. Industrial Parks (the following factsheet is an excellent primer on developing rural industrial parks: http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/1526.html)
   2. Business Parks
   3. Transportation infrastructures (rail, boat, truck, air, etc.)
4. Social Assets for supporting existing and potential entrepreneurs:
   1. Regional Associations and Networks (e.g. forums, working groups, round-tables, etc.)
   2. Local Business Associations/organizations
   3. Charitable Trusts/Foundations
   4. School Business Training Programs/Youth Entrepreneurship Programs
   5. Non-Profits that address human health, human services, environment, etc.
5. Natural Assets for supporting and building entrepreneurship within the community:
   1. Location (location indices can help to calculate tourism-draw potential)
   2. Natural Resources (Natural Resources Inventories can help to provide resource baseline. Check out the following factsheet on the importance of natural resources: http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/pdf/add.nrcompplan.pdf)
   3. Natural Amenities (a natural amenities inventory can be used to catalog a region’s natural assets that can be used to leverage sustainable, resource-based economies)
6. Training programs for supporting entrepreneurs:
   1. High School Vocational Education Programs
   2. Post-High School Vocational/Technical Schools
   3. Community Colleges. For more information about community colleges in the United States, go to: http://www.aacc.nche.edu/
   4. University-based Business Development Training Programs and Continuing Education Providers (e.g. College for Lifelong Learning, etc.)
   5. Private Professional Training Programs (e.g. chef school, photography institute, job-shadowing programs, apprenticeship or internship programs, etc.)
   6. Energizing Entrepreneurs Program (E2): http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/
   7. Sirolli Enterprise Facilitation Program: http://www.sirolli.co.uk/resourceItem.cfm?id=13
   8. Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute, University of Kentucky: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/KECI/welcome.html
   9. EDGE http://cari.unl.edu
   10. Western EDGE (http://extension.usu.edu/wrdc).

1. 1. Local Chambers of Commerce of Commerce. See National Directory at: http://www.uschamber.com/chambers/directory/default.htm
   2. Municipal Economic Development Departments
   3. Community Development Corporations. For more information about CDC’s, go to: http://www.salisburycdc.org/what_are_cdcs.asp
   4. Economic Development Corporations
   5. Regional Economic Development organizations/associations
   6. Regional Planning Agencies
   7. Community Loan Funds and Micro-Credit Providers
   8. Federal Agencies (e.g. Small Business Administration/Small Business Development Centers, USDA-Rural Development)
   9. State Department of Economic/Business Development. See National Directory of State offices at: http://www.eda.gov/Resources/StateLinks.xml

Prepared by Charlie French, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

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